Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
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State v. Lanford, 225 N.C. App. 189 (Jan. 15, 2013)
The trial court did not err by denying the defendant’s motion to dismiss a charge of attempted malicious castration of a privy member. The victim was the son of the woman with whom the defendant lived; a doctor found 33 injuries on the victim’s body, including a 2.5 inch laceration on his penis. The defendant argued that there was insufficient evidence that he committed an assault with malice aforethought and specific intent to maim the victim’s privy member. Although the victim gave conflicting evidence as to how the defendant cut his penis, the defendant’s malice and specific intent to maim could be reasonably inferred from the numerous acts of humiliation and violence experienced by the victim prior to the defendant’s assault on his penis.